The strongest gust of the day was logged at 7pm. An hour later, as the aircraft made its approach, the airport was still registering gusts above 65 kilometres per hour with a sustained wind of around 50.
What is a Pre-alert?
The Canary Government's Directorate General of Emergencies had placed the island on pre alert for wind. That is the first of three levels, sitting below alert and emergency, and it is essentially a notice to the emergency services to be ready. It brings no closures, no restrictions and no reason to change plans.
Pre alerts for wind are issued several times each summer on Lanzarote and more often through the winter months. They tend to make the news only when something visible happens, which is why an aborted landing draws attention that the underlying weather warning does not.
Breaking off an approach is trained procedure, not a failure. Crews abandon a landing whenever the approach stops being stable, whether that is a gust nudging the aircraft off the centreline, a sink rate that has grown too fast or a simple judgement that the next few seconds will not go well. Power goes on, the aircraft climbs, and it rejoins for another circuit.
Lanzarote sees it's fair share of go arounds. There is one runway, 03/21, running roughly north to south, and the trade winds that define the island's climate come from the north and north east. Strengthen those winds and the crosswind component climbs fast. The ground either side of the final approach adds turbulence in the last few hundred feet.
Keep up with the island at Lanzarote news.
